Greta Thunberg, Madleen activists deported after defying Gaza blockade

Greta Thunberg has been deported from Israel after being detained alongside 11 other activists who tried to break the devastating blockade on Gaza.

Adalah, an Israel-based legal rights group representing the detainees, said Thunberg, along with two activists and a journalist, agreed to deportation. The others refused and remained in detention awaiting hearings before Israeli authorities.

Adalah said it would pursue legal action to ensure their safety and release.

Israel's foreign ministry posted on X a photograph of Thunberg aboard a plane, saying she was en route to France. Israeli media reported she was forced on an El Al flight.

The ministry added that "some" of the 12 detainees, activists and journalists, were being deported, and the rest were "expected to leave within the next few hours".

Eight of the 12 reportedly refused to sign deportation papers. The group includes nationals from Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Turkey.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said five of the six detained French citizens refused deportation and would face Israeli judges.

"One has agreed to leave voluntarily," he said. "The other five will be subject to forced deportation proceedings."

Al Jazeera called for the immediate release of one of its journalists, Omar Fayyad, who was arrested during the Israeli military’s seizure of the ship. The network said Israeli authorities bear full responsibility for his safety.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which organised the mission, confirmed the deportations and said both Fayyad and French journalist Yanis Mhamdi were being represented by private legal counsel.

The group condemned Israel’s actions as "unlawful, politically motivated, and a direct violation of international law", vowing that "the persecution of humanitarian action and the silencing of resistance will not succeed".

"Israel is handling the custody of all 12 as though they had entered illegally - even though they were forcibly abducted from international waters and brought into Israel against their will," it added.

Amnesty International echoed the condemnation.

"By forcibly intercepting and blocking the Madleen which was carrying humanitarian aid and a crew of solidarity activists, Israel has once again ignored its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip and demonstrated its chilling contempt for legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice," Amnesty's Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement.

"Until we see real concrete steps by states worldwide signalling an end to their blanket support for Israel, it will have carte blanche to continue inflicting relentless death and suffering on Palestinians," she added.

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians also called out Israel for its conduct, saying "this decision by Israeli authorities forms part of its wider ongoing strategy to severely obstruct aid to Gaza."

"This is not an isolated incident; Israel has historically violently targeted the Freedom Flotilla Coalition," the ICJP said.

The Madleen had attempted to breach Israel’s blockade on Gaza, in place since 2007 but tightened even further in January as part of Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave.

The siege has resulted in dozens of famine deaths and has left desperate Palestinians struggling to find food and medical essentials.

A US-backed humanitarian plan that has been distributing aid in Gaza has resulted in chaos and bloodshed, with over 130 Palestinians killed in two weeks by Israeli gunfire as they lined up to receive aid.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up by Israeli and US authorities to distribute aid in Gaza, has been widely condemned by the UN and rights groups for replacing long-standing humanitarian systems with a politicised and militarised model.

Rights groups say it delivers inadequate aid through unsafe, militarised corridors, forcing desperate civilians to travel long distances and exposing them to deadly risks at chaotic distribution hubs.

Early Monday, Israeli forces intercepted the boat off Egypt’s coast and dragged it to Ashdod port.

Since Israel’s war began in October 2023, at least 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Thousands more remain buried under rubble.